Improvement in gates



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' Letters Patent No. 109,713, dated November 29, 1870.A 1 v iMPRovEMEN-r |N GATES.

The Schedule referred to irl-these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom-it may concern:

, Bc it known that I, ROBERT T. Bowan, of Fallston,

in the county vof Harford and State of Maryland, have inveuteda ncwand useful Improvement in Automatic Gates; and I do hereby declare the followingr to bc a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the `accompanying drawing, in which- Figure lis a perspective view of my gate. Figure 2 is a plan viewv of the same. Figure 3 is au enlarged plan of a part ofthe same.

Figuresd, 5, 6, elevations ofthe stop-latch, showing y its mode of action.

Myinv'ention relates-to that class of automatic gates which is operated by means of cranks to be pushedv down by the wheel of the vehicle which is about to pass iburth-named is perhaps as important asA any, becauseit is vvery diicult to stop a carriage so that the wheel shall rest upon the crank and keep it pressed down while the gate is swinging, especially wheuthe gate swings toward the horse. When thecrank is pressed down Aand-immediately released, as `will be the case when the wheel passes over it, the gate will generally remain latched, because appreciable time is required in overcoming its inertia and est. blishing its movement.

My invention obviates the above objections, rst, by simplicity of mechanism, which, if deranged, may' be repaired by an unskilled person, and' which may be applied to any gate already in use; second, the impossibility of obstruction by foreign matters, unless by'design; third, by placing all ofthe parts above ground, where ice or snow cannot obstruct their action fourth,

by a latch which will hold the'parts in position when once moved by the crank; and

My invention, therefore, consists- First, in arranging the dev ices to operatein either direction by a positive pull,'so that motion may be communicated by wires or equivalent means.

Second, in the arrangement of levers to raise the latch-end 0f the gate and throwvit outside of the center or gravity so that it will swing open.

Third, in a supplemental latch to hold the lever which controls the motion of the gate when it has once been moved.

'lhat others may fully understand my invention I will particularly describe it. l

The gate-post A, to which the gate B is hung, is eut off at about the heightofthenpperhinge, andthe lever Gis pvoted at E upen the top of said post, as shown in figs. 1, 2,and 3.

At one end of the lever C a pintle is formed, and said pintle is inserted in an eye, D, attached to the inner upright bar of the gate B, and forms the upper hinge of said gate. The lower hinge is formed by a corresponding eye, and a pintlc set rigidly in the post in the usual man u er. j l l It will be observed that/the upper hingceye D is near one edge of the upright bar, and the lower hingeeye is set nearthe opposite edge, so that the axial line is not vertical, but is oblique to the plane ofthe gate,

so that the weight of the gate will always tend to close it when opened. XVhilelthe hinges of the gate are in the relative positions described, the gate itself' is arranged to stand upright and level when closed, the lever C being then in the position shown i`n fig. 2.

lhc opposite ond ofthe lever C projects beyond the rear side of the post A, and, by the application of force to said projected end, may be carried around in the arc of a circle about the pivot E, as shown in figs. 2 and 3, and this movement produces two e'ccts: first, the ripper' hinge passes over the. lower one so as to incline the axial line from the. opposite direction, and the gravl,

ity of the gate will then cause it to swing open see-r ond, the upper hinge and top of the gate are drawn backward so as to 'raise the frontend and free the latch. Ihe gate then swings open, as shown in dotted lines in l and 2. A counter-movement of the lelver C brings the gate aga-in upright and causes lit close.

It' the lever C should be suddenly moved, as above stated, and instantly released, the inertia and weight of the gate would cause a reaction before it commenced to swing, and the gate would remain closed. \Vheu the gate is to be opened, 'it is therefore necessary to depress and holdthe lever C for a certain length of time until the gate has swung about half-way open, when its momentumwill insure its further and proper movementin the same direction. I- accomplish theI required holding ofthe lever by a peculiar latch, which,

is double acting, and will holdin either direction.

The block F, 1, 2, 5, 6, is pivoted to the rear side of the post A in such a position that, when canted inone direction, one of its corners will project above the post and form a stop from one clil'ectiomand, when canted in the opposite way, another corner will form a stop from the opposite direction, as shown in figs. 5 and 6.

.Ihe lower partof the block F is attached to a shortlever, G, by a 'straight flat spring, H, of low power.-

moves one way-o vtbe other, itv affects the spring H,

Vas shown in fig. o, and causes the latch F Vto beV re-YA leased.

'lhc lever G is attached tothe gate by cords -1 J running around opposite sides of the post A, and said cords are allowed some slack, so that they do` not become tant and actuponthe lever G until the swing ot"`the gate is nearly completed. Said lever is then suddenly moved, and the latch reversed, as' in fig. (i, so as to be in position to catch and hold the lover C whenlit is moved again.

Nowthe lever O, whenever it is moved far enough to cause the gate'to open, is stopped and held by the latch F, and no matter how suddenly the 41noving power may be applied and released, said latch will catch and hold it until the gate has swung nearly open, when said latch will be automatically V reversed, as above described.

I will now describe `themeans by which the motions of the lever O and gate B are produced.

A lever, K, is pivoted at its center to the rear side of the post A, and the upper end of said lever is provided with a slot or metal loop, through which the end of tlhc lever C projects.

f At a proper distance 'from the `gate the cranksrods LmM are laid across thc road, and are protected in any convenient way. 'lheir ends rest in suit-able bearings.` The cranks lm are arranged on opposite sides ot the roadway, so that the drivel' may always have the elevated crank, against which he is to drive, at his right hand.

At one end of each crank-rod there is a pulley, N O, and a. wire or wirecord, l Q, 'extends from the two ends of the lever K around each of these pulleys, thc cord or wire being crossed at one side, Q, so as to give the saine motion to the lever from a corresponding motion of the crank-rod. In practice, I find that telegraph-wire will operate satisfactorily for this purl pose.

If it is desired to employ a double gate, the. crankrods are supplied with pulleys N O at each end, and the devices are duplicated.

VThe wires or cords maybe protected from cattle, tvc., by boards R S extending from post A to the pulleys, and hiding the wires l Q behind them.

When the gate is to be opened the elevated crank is depressed and the pulley thereby rotated. This causes the lever li to swing upon its pivot and operate the lever C with c'ect above described. The depression ofthe crank, which is elevated when the gate is open, has the eii'ect to close it in a similar way.

It will be perceived that the lever K is moved in either direction by a positive pull upon the wire or cord instead of heilig moved in one direction by a push motion, requiring a very stili" rod. It will also be pci'- ceived-that, it' the crank is once fully depressed, no mattei' how quickly, the gate will open or close, as .the ease may be. i

The lever G may be dispensed with, the end of the spring H being rigidly att-ached to the post A, and the pull of the cords I J being communicatedfdirectly to the latch l above its piwt; but I do not think that arrangementpreferible to the one above described.

This gate may be opened by hand like any ordinary gate, and without moving any otits mechanism except the latch F it' the gate be fully opened.

Having described my invention,

What I claim as new is- 1. The lever K, pivoted at its center, in combination with the' cords I 0 and pulleys N O. at the ends otthe crank-rods L M, so that said lever may always be moved by a positive pull to operate the gate, as set forth.

2. In combination with the lever O or its equivalent, arranged to operate the gate B, as described, the latch F, constructed to operate substantially as `set fort-h.'

4 ROBI. T. BOVNE. lVitnesses CALnB J. Moons, 'WILLIAM Simone. 

